The present invention generally relates to data communications and information systems and, more particularly, to advance notification systems and methods for notifying users in advance of the impending arrival of a vehicle or user, for example but not limited to, a bus, train, delivery van, plane, fishing vessel, or other vessel, or user walking or riding, to or at a particular stop.
There are many situations when it is desirable for people to know of the approximate arrival time of a particular vehicle, the distance of a particular vehicle approaching, when a vehicle crosses particular location points, and when a particular vehicle is leaving its last stop, all shortly before the vehicle is to arrive at a particular destination. With such information, passengers, users, and companies can adjust their schedules accordingly and avoid having to wait on a particular vehicle to reach a particular destination. For example, a user having to pick up a friend or relative at a commercial bus station either has to call the bus station to find out the approximate arrival time (information which is oftentimes unavailable) or plan on arriving at the bus station prior to the scheduled arrival time of the bus and hope the bus is not delayed.
Another example includes a user walking and carrying a device such as a mobile phone or communication device with a location device, such as global positioning system (GPS) receiver, connected for sending location information to a control unit. This control unit can broadcast a user impending arrival time, distance to be traveled before arriving, specific location points and/or the time when leaving their last stop. This information may be broadcast to an employer, spouse, parent, or other user, when the vehicle/user reaches a predetermined location.
Another example involves school children that ride school buses. School children who ride buses to school often have to wait at their bus stops for extended lengths of time because school buses arrive at particular bus stops at substantially different times from one day to the next. The reason is that school buses are not always the best-maintained vehicles on the roads, frequently operate during rush hour traffic, and must contend with congested urban/suburban conditions. As a result, school children are forced to wait at their bus stops for long periods of time, oftentimes in adverse weather conditions, on unlit street corners, or in hazardous conditions near busy or secluded streets. If it is raining, snowing, windy and cold, and/or even dark, such conditions can be unhealthy and unsafe for children.
Yet another example is in the commercial overnight package delivery industry, wherein packages are delivered on a tight schedule.
It is desirable to notify a user at a delivery stop for better customer preparation as the vehicle approaches. By the customer becoming better prepared and a delivery driver being able to deliver more packages per day, an overnight package delivery company can increase profits by requiring fewer vehicles to deliver more packages in a business day. Additionally, individuals already try to project the arrival of a vehicle or package by online package tracking services provided by commercial delivery companies, such as the United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Express (FED-X), and others. Although traditional methods used in determining when a vehicle is to arrive at a stop is effective in some cases, a more precise method using a pre-warning message can be more helpful in providing accurate information. Currently, such vehicles, in order to ensure being able to deliver all packages in the same day, keep loads at a lower capacity and often predetermine the need for excessive waiting times at a percentage of vehicle stops when customers react slowly to their arrival.
Thus, generally, it would be desirable for a user to know when a vehicle (such as a bus, truck, train, plane, user, or the like) is (a) a particular time period (for example, number of minutes or seconds) away from arriving at a destination, (b) a particular distance (for example, number of miles or height) away from the destination, or (c) at a particular location among a set of location points, so that the user can adjust his/her schedule and avoid arriving too early or too late.
In the past, in order to combat the arrival time problem in the context of school buses, student notification systems have been employed that use a transmitter on each bus and a receiver inside each student home. U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,661 to Boone et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,969 describe systems of this type. When the school bus and its onboard transmitter come within range of a particular home receiver, the transmitter sends a signal to notify the student that his/her school bus is nearby. While such notification systems work satisfactorily under certain circumstances, nevertheless, these systems are limited by the range of the transmitters and require the purchase of relatively expensive receivers for each student. In addition, such systems provide little flexibility for providing additional information to the students, such as notifying them of the delayed arrival of a bus, alternative bus route information, or information regarding important school events.
Briefly described, the present invention provides user-definable communications methods that can be implemented in connection with notification systems methods for notifying users of travel status of movable things.
One such method, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: enabling a user to define at least two communications methods for receiving notifications relating to travel of a mobile thing; enabling a user to define one or more criteria when a communications method should be used as opposed to one or more others; monitoring travel data associated with the mobile thing; and providing a notification using one or more of the communications methods, based upon the criteria. One such system of the present invention, among others, would have a means for performing each of the foregoing steps.
As a further option, the method or system may enable a party to define the communications methods (as opposed to having them predefined) for receiving notifications relating to travel of the mobile thing.
As a further option, the method or system may enable a party to define times (times of day, days of the week, etc.) for use of each of the communications methods. As a further option, the communications methods may be directed to the same type of device, for example but not limited to, a telephone, or they may be directed to different types of communications devices, for example but not limited to, (a) a telephone and a pager or (b) a pager and a computer configured to communicate email.
Another method of the present invention, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: monitoring travel data associated with a mobile thing; determining that a notification should be made, based upon travel data and upon the relationship of the mobile thing to a location; comparing a current time value with one or more preset time periods associated with one or more communications methods; and selecting one or more of the communication methods based upon the comparing step. One such system of the present invention, among others, would have a means for performing each of the foregoing steps.
The present invention is suited for many applications. As nonlimiting examples, the present invention could be employed in connection with overnight delivery services, commercial buses, trains, planes, pickup vehicles, fishing or shipping vessels, delivery vehicles, individuals carrying location devices and/or delivery sensors and/or other sensors for determining location, etc.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following drawings. All such additional objects, features, and advantages are intended to be included herein.